Never Forget
by Linneam
Summary: With the darkness only growing stronger with each passing day, the Potters have no choice but to go into hiding... Even if it means saying goodbye to their best friends. James/Lily. First War. One-shot.


**Well, yeah. I don't really know what to say... I've been working on this one for nearly two days, and I'm not gonna lie, I struggled with it. I'm hoping that doesn't show, but it might. -shrug- I'm finally pleased with it, though, so I'm going to go ahead and post it. Reviews would mean the world to me. I'd love to know what I did right, and equally, what I messed up on. I consulted a timeline for some of the events,and that was really helpful... Yeah. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy! Review, por favor?**

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"Sirius, knock it off," laughed Lily Potter, briefly taking her eyes off the messy-faced toddler in the high chair in front of her. "That's one of our good spoons. Besides, Harry's taken to miming whatever he sees. The last thing we need him doing is sticking his spoon to his nose."

When her black-haired friend shook his head, another voice joined the conversation. "Here, allow me. I'd be glad to knock it off for him." Almost instantly, a scarred hand reached up and knocked the spoon from his best friend's nose.

"Seriously, Moony?" Sirius gave him an indignant stare, swiftly kicking him underneath the table.

Next to them, a third person laughed, and Lily's own black haired man chimed in. "No, Remusly, Pads. Surely you realize it wasn't you."

Sirius unleashed a sarcastic laugh, much louder and shorter than his usual bark. "Yeah, good one, Prongs. Real original. I've never heard a play on words with my name before. Seriously."

"Actually Siriusly this time," smiled James. "Now we've had a Remusly and a Siriusly... What does it take to have a Jamesly?"

Grinning, Lily leaned over and gave her husband a peck on the lips. "How about you feed Harry in a very Jamesly fashion while I go get dinner? I'm not sure I trust a hoodlum like you with hot pans."

"Oh, I'm a hoodlum now?" her husband teased. "Just remember, you married this hoodlum; it's your own fault."James pulled her down for a more complete, much sweeter kiss, which provided ample opportunity for Sirius to retrieve his spoon and launch it at James' head.

James all but leaped across the table, starting an every-man-for-himself wrestling match, and Lily escaped to the kitchen, a smile dancing on her lips. Some days, she felt like the mother of five boys instead of one, though she wouldn't trade any of her boys away for anything. Unfortunately, one of her 'children'- Peter, recently the quietest of the lot- had been unusually distant of late, making their weekly dinners consist of only James, Sirius, Remus, Harry, and herself.

Once in the kitchen, Lily carefully pulled her long red hair back into a messy ponytail and frowned into the pot of boiling spaghetti sauce. She and James had promised that morning to keep the evening as light as possible, but without her boys' constant distractions, she couldn't help the realization that, at least for now, this was probably their last Sunday night dinner.

Just as she lifted the first pot off the stove, the kitchen door creaked open, and her husband was standing next to her. "Do I sense fretting in here, my dear?"

"You do indeed," Lily answered with a forced smile. "I can't help it, James. I'm going to miss them."

He gently pulled the steaming pot from her hands and settled it on the stove top. Then she was in his arms, near enough to feel his breath on the back of her neck. Lily braved a glance at her husband's face, and she instantly regretted it. She'd never seen him look- or sound- so defeated. "I am too."

Swiveling around in his arms, Lily caught his gaze and locked her emerald eyes on his sad hazel ones. She hated seeing him upset. "I know. But it's not forever; we'll get them back at some point... It'll just take a while before He-Who-... Before Voldemort disappears. But he will. I know it."

"You're right," her husband admitted, sounding aged far beyond his twenty years. "I just hate running. I feel like a-"

"Coward." Lily finished quietly, placing her hand on his cheek. "I know. So do I. But we don't have a choice. I hate leaving everyone out there to fight our battles. Dumbledore says it will help in the end. If he's right, we are doing our part to-"

The door flew open again, and a pouting Sirius appeared, forcing his significantly taller body between the two lamenting lovers. "Prongs... Flower... What am I?"

"Erm, a wizard?"

"Nope. Try again, Prongsipoo."

James, being thoroughly confused, stared at his best friend's grey puppy-dog eyes, and suddenly, it clicked. "A dog."

"Exactly! And what do dogs love to do?"

"Chase their tails?" Lily asked helpfully, a real smile this time tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Drink from the toilet? Slobber all over the couch?"

"No," laughed Sirius, clearly struggling to maintain his pitiful facade. "They like to eat. Thus, you can conclude that I like to eat. Feed me?"

With a laugh, Lily pushed their best friend out from between them. "We're coming, you mongrel. Grab the salad, and we'll be there in a second."

Obediently, probably because of hunger, the black-haired man pranced back to their tiny dining room bearing a bowl of leafy greens. Lily flashed her husband a grin and gestured to the basket of dinner rolls positioned on the counter. "I told you that you hoodlums weren't allowed to touch the hot pan."

Sticking his tongue out defiantly, James followed Lily down the hall, and together, the couple reentered the crowded little room. Sirius sat bouncing a very happy, very sticky miniature James Potter on his knee, a bright grin on both of their faces. Harry was the definition of adorable toddler, and Sirius looked perfectly at home with his godson in his lap. "Took you long enough."

"You cook next time then," Lily answered simply, lowering herself into one of the two mismatched chairs placed haphazardly next to the table. "I'd be glad to just wait and hold the baby for a change."

James laughed. "You don't even trust me with a hot pan! You really trust him with a stove?"

"Maybe not," Lily answered, seemingly serious. "I rather like having a house, thank you, and fire damages aren't the easiest to repair."

Rolling his eyes, Sirius began to load his plate one-handedly, keeping a firm hold on Harry with the other; James and Remus quickly followed suit. Once the mayhem died down, Lily, too, served herself; rather than eating, however, she toyed with the noodles, twirling them round and round about her fork. The red-head had no appetite.

At first no one noticed, and she was free to watch her boys. James had stolen Harry and was feeding him short, chopped up pieces of spaghetti while the other two lobbed pieces of dinner roll at each others' faces. They'd be teenagers forever.

Unfortunately, they were observant teenagers. Remus, who had always been the most astute, noticed her fork twirling aimlessly on the plate and alerted the other two hooligans. Then suddenly, their random merriment was over.

"Lils, what's going on?" he asked quietly, popping a bit of already-thrown roll in his mouth. "Why aren't you eating?"

"She's worrying," James answered quietly, a smile frozen on his face. "And she's enjoying watching all of us together because she doesn't know when she'll get to see it again."

"What d'you mean?" Sirius asked. Bits of spaghetti noodles flew out of his mouth with each word; Lily'd never been able to convince him to swallow before he spoke.

With a pointed glance at Sirius, she cleared her throat and, upon receiving a nod from James, began to explain. "We're going to listen to Dumbledore. The Fidelius Charm... We don't know everything yet; we don't have a secret keeper. But we know it's happening sometime this week... This is our last Sunday night dinner."

The room was eerily quiet, only Harry's random noises breaking the sudden silence. There was no shock, no surprise, just quiet acceptance. They'd all known the day was coming; it had only been a matter of when.

Calmly, Sirius reached over and took his godson from James' arms. The young boy seemed confused at first but, seeing Sirius' "funny face," began giggling. It was lucky, Lily thought, that Harry was too young to see the sadness in his godfather's eyes.

"I'm gonna miss you, punk," the black-haired man whispered. "Don't go forgetting me, alright? It may be a few years before I see you again."

Her son continued to smile, but Lily's eyes watered. She hated the idea of her son, or her husband for that matter, growing up without the two men in front of her. Admittedly, she didn't want to go on without them either.

She felt a warm hand slide its way into hers, and she could feel every contour of her husband's calloused palm against hers. On her other side, she felt Remus scoot nearer, and even Sirius came up behind the two, plopping Harry gently on her lap.

"Lily, everything's going to be just fine. You know that, right?" Moony's words were calm and rational, and though she couldn't explain it, they made things moderately better.

A hand landed squarely on her shoulder, and she saw an almost identical hand land on top of James' head. "Really, you two. Just think of it as another honeymoon. Plus child this time. He'll be here to remind you what happened on your first honeymoon."

Next to her, her husband laughed, and she felt herself chuckling too. "Oh, Sirius. What am I going to do without you? Life will just be too calm."

"Calm?" James asked, arching his eyebrows. "I've never heard you describe life with me as calm. Sounds like I need to up my game again."

"Now you've done it," Remus interjected, a slow smile forming on his face. "Last time he decided to 'up his game,' Peter ended up hanging upside down in our dormitory. In a skirt. Though I think the last bit may have been his own idea."

Sirius snorted. "No, I think the first bit was his idea. James and I added the skirt. We thought it might add some character; he was being boring that day."

"No, he thought we were being boring that day, if I recall, Pads. I don't take well to being called boring," James explained with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "So, I decided to up my game."

Though she rolled her eyes, Lily couldn't help but laugh. "Poor Peter. Sounds like you were almost as bad to him as you were to Se- Snape."

At that name, a shadow fell on the room. It was Snape's fault all of this was happening; he'd overheard the prophecy, and with his Death Eater status, he was the reason for the target on each of their backs.

Sirius was the first to recover from the mild shock. "Anyway, you two. Don't go forgetting us while James is here upping his game. And don't let that little man forget us either."

"Only if you promise not to forget us, Black. You too, Lupin," Lily teased quietly, returning to her school days for the briefest of seconds.

"Never would, Evans."

"Oops, Sirius," Remus inserted, "you messed up. She's not Evans anymore."

"In name or in attitude. Sorry, Potter."

Lily chuckled, and from somewhere in the house, their grandfather clock chimed, alerting them all to the end of their evening. Their two best friends stood up, suddenly somber, and James joined them. "Moony, Padfoot, I'm going to miss you two. Brothers always, alright? We'll see you soon."

"Brothers always, Prongs," his fellow Marauders repeated in unison, all sharing in a three-man hug.

Sirius gave a somber smile and turned his attention to his surrogate sister, who was still at the table holding Harry tighter than ever. Lily attempted to ignore the feeling of his eyes on the back of her head, instead watching Harry play with her unused spoon. With all the darkness in her world, she needed to keep her eyes on the boy feeding himself invisible bites of her place mat; he was part of her light.

"Can't say goodbye to your favorite boys, Flower?"

With a sigh, Lily stood up, taking Harry and his spoon with her. "Of course I'll say goodbye. But I meant it. Don't forget about us just because we're not out there fighting. We'll be thinking about you guys all the time."

"We'll never forget you," Sirius repeated, pulling both her and her son into a tight hug. "Keep showing that little one our pictures, though. I don't want him forgetting me."

Harry lifted his long, skinny fingers and waved bye-bye as the two Marauders headed to the door, but what he did with his other hand made Lily stop them in their tracks.

"Sirius! Remus! I know he won't forget you," she called out, causing the door to reopen. "You've taught him too much."

The entire group turned to stare at the fifteen-month-old baby, and each member began laughing, though Padfoot's short, bark-like laugh was loudest. No, Harry wouldn't forget them. None of the Potters would. It was as certain as the spoon hanging from the little boy's nose.

As the friends separated, one thought lingered in all their minds. That night could very well be their last goodbye. And six days later, that thought was confirmed. Lily and James were gone, but they had never forgotten... And more importantly, the never were forgotten.


End file.
